National 5

The Task

The purpose of this assignment is to demonstrate your ability to apply your skills and knowledge and understanding to research a religious, moral or philosophical issue of your choice. This may be related to areas you have studied in class if you wish, but you are free to research any relevant topic or issue. For help with topics see here.

The assignment is worth 20 marks. The marks contribute 25% of the overall marks for the Course assessment. The Course will be graded A–D. This means that it can have a massive impact on your final grade.

The assessment for the assignment will be in the form of a report of your research and findings. You must complete this report within one hour.

The Resource Sheet

You will have the RMPS Resource Sheet which you can refer to as you produce a report of your findings. This will help you produce your report of your assignment. You must use only one side of this single sheet and be no more than 200 words.

The Resource Sheet will not be marked; you will only be awarded marks for what you include in your report. You must not use it to pre-write your report, however it is fine to copy quotations in full. No marks will be awarded for directly copying extended pieces of text/narrative from the Resource Sheet.

What are we marked on?

A. Identify an appropriate religious, moral or philosophical issue

How you can do this

Identify a religious, moral or philosophical issue. Your issue can be religious or moral or philosophical or any combination of these. Your issue should allow you to:

¨ find relevant factual information and relevant viewpoints

¨ comment on the significance or impact of the issue

¨ come to a conclusion which you can support with reasons

B. Comment on the significance or impact of the issue

How you can do this

Your comment should focus on the significance or impact of the religious, moral or philosophical issue you have been studying.

This means you need to show you understand the issue or topic you have chosen. You are showing the marker you know that the issue is important. Perhaps this would be referring to current debate, recent news articles, how important the issue is. Obviously this would depend completely on your chosen topic as to what would be appropriate to include.

C. Use information from different sources

How you can do this

You will need to:

¨ collect information which will help you come to a conclusion on the issue

¨ find out about facts and viewpoints

¨ take a note of where you found this information

Collecting information

You should collect evidence relevant to the issue, from a range of sources. This may include, for example:

¨ websites/blogs

¨ newspapers/magazines (print or electronic)

¨ books

¨ religious texts

¨ visits or fieldtrips

¨ television/video

¨ radio/podcasts

¨ textbooks

¨ interviews/questionnaires

¨ artefacts

¨ iconography

Taking a note of the sources you have used

When presenting evidence from sources, you should say where the information comes from.

It is useful to reference the sources you have used. You can quote directly or put it in your own words. For example:

1 Corinthians 13 states that….

Or

In The Blind Watchmaker Dawkins argues that….

Or

The Buddhist Wheel of Life shows….

Or

The BBC Religion and Ethics website states that…. (full URL for websites are not required)

It is important to think about the reliability and appropriateness of the sources you use.

D. Use knowledge and understanding to explain and analyse aspects of the issue

How you can do this

Use accurate knowledge to explain key aspects of the issue. Explaining and analysing the issue could require you to make links between factors or different aspects of the issue, and show that you have understood how these different factors affect each other, for example:

¨ People who believe in a literal interpretation of religious creation stories will reject scientific accounts of the origin of the universe. This may lead them to mistrust science in general, which in turn may affect…

¨ Religious people may agree with non-religious people that the issue of mankind’s responsibility for the environment is a moral issue, because they believe that…

E. Present a conclusion about the issue

F. Support the conclusion with reasons

How you can do this

Present a conclusion which is supported with valid reasons.

Your conclusion may be presented at any point in your writing, for example, as you present your evidence or at the end.

Concluding that you are unsure is fine, providing you can support your view with clear reasons.

Higher

This assignment is worth 30 marks out of a total of 90 marks for the Course. The marks contribute approximately 33% of the overall marks for the Course assessment. The Course will be graded A–D. This therefore can have a massive impact on your final grade!

As with the N5 Assignment you need to choose an appropriate issue and topic. Complete research on it and analyse and evaluate the debate surrounding the topic. There are 3 things that you will be marked on.

AKnowledge and Understanding (12 marks)

Researching the issue

You should use a range of sources of information, to which you should refer to in your assignment. (See above for examples of the different types of research you could complete)

Demonstrating knowledge and understanding of the issue

You should use your knowledge and understanding to support your response to the issue.

This is where you show off what you have learned about the topic.

B Analysis (10 marks)

Analysing the issue

Analysis involved identifying parts, the relationship between them, and their relationships with the whole. It can also involve drawing out and relating implications.

Synthesising information in a structured manner

You should draw together a range of information in response to the issue. Bring together your arguments and support draw links between your different pieces of information.

Explaining the significance or impact of the issue

You should explain the significance or impact of the issue. Explain why it is such an important topic or issue.

C Evaluation (8 marks)

Evaluating different viewpoints on the issue

You should evaluate different viewpoints on the issue. Evaluation involves making reasoned judgements.

Presenting a detailed explanation of supporting information and potential challenges/counter-arguments